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It's time to get Shakespeare off the big screen
By James Brady RyanApril 8th, 2011, 1:59 pmComments (10)
Between Roland Emmerich's upcoming and unfortunate-looking Anonymous and the news yesterday that True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld is in talks to play Juliet in a new adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, I've come to the conclusion that it's time to — temporarily, mind you — ban Shakespeare from the silver screen. Ban quasi-historical dramatizations of his life, ban zany re-interpretations set in American high schools, ban special-effects-heavy snoozes like Julie Taymor's The Tempest. Give the dead man and his stories a break, for Christ's sake. Let's all just agree to back off a bit and return in, oh, five years.
Before we go any further I'd like to state for the record that I absolutely love Shakespeare's work.
Now, I'm sure there are filmmakers out there who could do some really amazing things with a Shakespeare play if they wanted to. But I can't help but feel our current movie-going culture is simply not Shakespeare-friendly. We're in the middle of a 3D resurgence, for some reason. We're still working through the torture-porn fad. Most of our animated films involve at least one parody of a Top 40 hit. Even our prestige films have drug-induced lesbian sex and people cutting off their own arms. And if you think this stuff doesn't come into conflict with the audacity and brilliance of Shakespeare's work, all I have to say to you is: Gnomeo and Juliet.
I can tell I'm coming off as snobbish here, and I want to ensure you that I'm not someone who thinks, "One can only TRULY experience Shakespeare at the the-A-ter." I have no problem bring classics into more commercial formats. I love 10 Things I Hate About You! But the question is, how many bold new visions can you have in a decade before "new" just means more special effects and lots more screwing? How many plots need to be re-worked for teenage drama before it just becomes a crutch? There are other plots out there, people! You can even make up your own.
His stories — which even he borrowed and adapted from other sources, it's true — are timeless and powerful, and that's why I know there will never not be film versions of these plays. But frankly, I feel like I have Shakespeare movie gout. If we could just give it all a rest, just for a while, maybe someone could have the space necessary to make a kick-ass, exhilarating film version of one of his many works without imploding under the pressure of the one that came out three months before. And maybe we could be in a clearer head space to enjoy it.
And if you still want to make your very own Bold New Vision? Go read some Goethe or something.
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Hailee Steinfeld
Commentarium (10 Comments)
This belongs on The AV Club. [That said I like what you're saying here. If this were high school, I'd ask you to flesh out your thesis more and cite more sources. For what this is, you've got me thinking, and after 3 pm on a Friday, that's impressive.]
I was never a fan of citations, Robert. That's probably why I write for the internet.
I can accept that, I guess. I just thought that the overall premise has the makings of a more in depth essay. I'd take a shot at writing it if I had an audience I could use.
I don't know, James, like any other movies, they're either gonna be good or not good, and sometimes they're good. Better another shot at Shakespeare than more remakes like "McHale's Navy" and "Bewitched."
McHale's Navy with Kelsey Grammer was a tour de force of nautically-themed motion pictures. NOT.
My favorite recent re-envisionings were McKellan's Richard III and Stewart's MacBeth because moving them to the fascist period and to modern warfare (or at least late 20th C warfare), respectively, really worked and brought out the political themes. I wouldn't mind seeing more of that sort of thing. As for R&J, it's a terrible play, which is why it shouldn't keep being remade. As for the other period-correct pieces, I'd say, if you can't obviously top Branagh (Henry V, Othello and Hamlet come to mind), don't even try. You need to bring something new to the depiction on the screen.
Henry V (Branagh), hands down best.
Even our prestige films have ... people cutting off their own arms.
But can this really compare to "Titus Andronicus" where Titus's daughter is raped, has her hands and tougue cut out, and then in a later scene when Titus's hand is cut off and they are exiting the stage, he instructs his daughter to "Bear though my hand, sweet wench, between thy teeth."
Oh, not at all. That play is insane. But the most recent (well known) film adaptation of "Titus Andronicus" came out in 1999. I'm not sure if we need another one quite yet.
Yes.